Also, the abatements, which, were they in metals or colors, were rare but otherwise not unusual charges, were tinctured in the two stains: sanguine, better known as wine-color or murrey, and tenne or orange.

Next among the colours of heraldry are the three stains: tenné, murrey (supposedly a colour associated with mulberries) and sanguine (or blood colour).

Origin

Late Middle English (as a verb): shortening of archaic distain, from Old Frenchdesteindre 'tinge with a color different from the natural one'. The noun was first recorded (mid 16th century) in the sense 'defilement, disgrace'.

A tincture was originally a dye or pigment. It comes from Latin tinctura ‘dyeing’, from tingere ‘to dye or colour’. Because dying involves making solutions and extracting active ingredients, it started to be used for a pharmaceutical extract in the late 17th century. The slang sense for ‘an alcoholic drink’ evolved from this in the early 20th century. A number of other words go back to tingere. Tint (early 18th century) was originally tinct, and tinge (late 15th century) comes from the related verb tingere, ‘to colour’. Stain (Late Middle English) goes back to tingere via a shortening of distain, from Old French desteindre ‘tinge with a colour different from the natural one’.